NOTES ON COLLECTING. 83 



lecting purposes,, as almost all the evenings were exceptionally cold, 

 with a bright poetical moon shining overhead. I am not a poet, there- 

 fore the moon might have been dispensed with to the advantage of 

 obtaining more insects. Sugaring was tried almost every evening, but 

 nothing but the common and vulgar herd ventured forth to revel at 

 the feast, which resulted in the majority being allowed to drink their 

 full — Xi/l()))ha.sia )ii(»i(i;ilu])lia, Trijihacna /iroiiuba, and Nortua xantho- 

 ijmplia, as a matter of course, were there. Aiiiphipi/ra tranopoz/onis, 

 A(/r(itis nii/ricans, Lnpcrina tcstacca, Naenia ti/pica, Miana fasciwinda, 

 and Apaniea didijma {oculca) did not forget to present themselves. 

 Half a dozen fine specimens of Mania iiiaura were discovered, and 

 boxed, while carousing at the sweets. This last I was very much elated at 

 having taken for the first time, and also in consequence of their being 

 very richly coloured specimens. L. coniijera, M. litcrosa and M.funincula 

 were taken from the ragwort. A few specimens of l^olia. chi were ob- 

 served on the walls. Jlipparchia seinele was common at Bennane Head, 

 flying about the roadside. Epincphdi' janira and a few Pobjommatm 

 icants also occurred there. Pi/raineis atalanta and Af/lais urticac were 

 sometimes observed flying about the weeds by the banks of the river. 

 EiiboUa vicnsumria was everywhere abundant. Kuunelcsia a//initata 

 was also plentiful, but in very poor condition. Addalia bUi-tata, 

 Melanippe mciata, C. fulvata, and C. itnmanata could also be taken. 

 In [September, I took about two dozen I'hlhalapterij.r lapidata, the 

 result of four separate journeys for it to both the Kilsyth and Lanark- 

 shire Hills, also a single specimen of Celaena haicorthii ; Tapino^tola 

 fnlva was not uncommon on one or two of these evenings at Bridge-of- 

 Weir, towards the end of the month. Chesias fipartiata was exception- 

 ally common ; and there, also, I took several Anchocdis litura, Plmia 

 i/amma, and C. phlaeas. During October, I made a bold endeavour to 

 improve my series of Oporabias, but, though I saw the insects in plenty, 

 the wind prevented my taking many. I managed a few on the 2ncl 

 and 9th. On November 6th, I took a few Chcimatobia bnunata, C. 

 borcnta (one), and a single Oporahia dilutata, at Milngavie, and there 

 ended my year's collecting. — Andkew Adie Dalglisii, 21, Princes 

 Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow. 



(hlmoj. — On the whole, collecting in Orkney was not a success last 

 season, and treacle was a failure. I have never seen the Noctuids so 

 scarce as they then were ; even Xijlophasia ntrca and Mainestra brasncae 

 were rarely seen. Geometrids, on the other hand, have been fairly well 

 represented. I have taken one or two good aberrations of Mrlauippe 

 vwntanata and Coremia munitata, also the Shetland form of Cidaria 

 immanata. I bred two or three of what appear to be very like the 

 Shetland Noctua conlhia (the wings are perhaps scarcely so narrow), 

 from larvae found on whin. I captured the first Hcpialus vdlcda that 

 I have seen in Orkney, this season, in Hoy, at the top of one of the 

 crags, about 1,200 feet above the level of the sea. Does not Newman 

 say they swarm at Stromncss ? I have never seen them. I bred a 

 nice series of Xeuicdp/iila jdantatjinis this spring, from larva? found on 

 the hills around Stromness. Between sixty and seventy emerged ; only 

 one of the ab. Iiospita among the lot. Taken as a whole, I notice they 

 are much darker than those from the south, the light ground colour 

 being much more broken up. — E. M. Chkesmax, Stromness. 



I'lfstburi/, Tenby and Milj'ord. — Last season was doubtless the 

 worst I have ever experienced, and, inland, sugar was an utter failure. 



